Draft Review ’13: Ivan Wilson

Welcome to a 2013 Draft Review, where I take a look back at the draft picks from this season and the progress they’ve made so far…

One of my favorite picks of the entire draft was a raw young outfield named Ivan Wilson, who the Mets snagged with the 76th pick of the ’13 MLB Draft. Wilson continued a streak of High School players selected, as he came from Ruston High School in Louisiana. Wilson stands at 6’3” and weighs in at 200 pounds, so he’s got the frame of an athlete even though he’s just 18 years old. When you really analyze him, he has the potential to become a five-tool player — he’s got a great arm, plays the field well, above average speed, and great raw power. His weakest point, however, is his “hit” tool — namely, hitting for contact. This also hinders the chance of his power playing out.

I have called Dominic Smith polished on more than one occasions, but it’s different with Wilson. Although they both started in the GCL, Wilson could take a little longer in the system and become one of the players who we classify as a late bloomer — but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a valuable piece someday. Let’s take a look at his line for the ’13 season:

So short-season GCL was not too kind to Wilson as his first chance in professional ball, but that’s perfectly okay. As I mentioned before, his ability to hit for contact works against his power. Although he has some of the better raw power in the system, if he’s not making contact it’ll all be for naught. That’s why his power numbers look pretty weak — spending time in professional ball means his first real experience dealing with breaking pitches and it isn’t always an easy adjustment. He did steal 13 bases in just 160 ABs, which gives me hope down the line. His line drive rate stayed about the same all year, hovering around 15.0%, so he’ll look to improve on that. He did show his best eye at the plate as the season winded down, walking at around 16.2% clip in August — his best month of the season.

The bottom line is that Wilson is pretty raw, but there’s a lot to salivate over when you look as his overall package as a prospect. He’ll probably be in short-season Kingsport next season as there’s no grounds for rushing him through the system.

Satish Ram is the MiLB editor at Mets Merized Online and one of the two Executive Editors and Co-Owners here at MetsMinors.net. You can reach him at facebook.com/SatishRam or follow him on Twitter at @SilverHeatMMO.